Solar Photovoltaic Energy Systems SectIO nal Comrnr.tee. ETD 26

NATIONA L FOREWORD

c--eae measurement of I-V charac\e risliC$' iS$l,led l;IyIhe IlIl emalional Elecl rotechnical COfTWfllSSion (lEe)
was adoptsd by th e a~ r eau of Indian S!andal (!S on the recomflloendllhon al lhe Solal Ptoo tovo l\aic Energy Systems Sectionol Com mitree and apP'oval 01the EIec1fatechlllCal OMSiO n Co unci l,
Thll tll~t of thll iEC Stendard has been apDrOW'<! as sullable 101 publlcll lion a" a'l lnd oa'l $landal clwll hOUI o:l eviatlons. Carla n" conVll n1 ions 1 1l!1 , howeveI, not il:IHIIica l ta lIlOse used in Indoa'l $ Iandard$ , A1 tEfllion 1$ particularly drawn to th o following:

Thi s Indian Slands rd which is ident icslwilh IEC 6t 829; 1995 'Cr~talones'llcon pholovollaic (PV) array-

a)

WherfMI r th e wO l ds 'InternotionaJ Standard' appeal lelenillQ 1 0 thos sla~rd, lney should be lead as 'Indl/fo Sl.1no:la rd' Comma (,) has been used as a oje(;imal tf\8.IIo.er In the Inletnationa l Standa ' d wtile 1I'l inclaan StandardS. the currant pra01 ice IS to use II POll'll I_1M the deeimal mllr'.e,.

bl

In this adopted standard, retm ence a~als 1 0 ( 911aln lnlernahonal $lalldards 1 01 whie h Indian StandardS also iI~ iit , Tllil oonl,lspoOdinlil lndion Sla'ldll'ds..hieh a,e la be sulJstllule<!in the il lespeclive places ale hsted M low along \\/lth tberr degree ofequival8nce 1 00l he edl\ IQ06inojlcaled .

IEC 60891 1987 Procedures for temperature and irradiance corrections to measured IN characteristics at crystalline silicon otctovonarc devices lEG 60904- 1 ; 1967" photcvcnarc devices - Part j Meas~rements of photovoltaic current-voltage characteristics lEG 60904-2 1969 Photovoltaic devices - Part 2: Requirements for reference solar cells l EG 60904-3 : 1989 Ph otovo ltaic devices - Part 3: Measurement principles for terrestrial photovcltalc (PV) solar devices with reference spectral jrradiance data IEC QG 00 1002 : 1966" Rules of prccecu-e of t h e le e q ~ ality essese ment sys tem for etectrcmc components (l ee Q)

IS 12763 : 1969 PIOCl!'du te s fo r tempe ralu lt1 aod irradiance COIrecmns 1 0 mea sured I-V cha 'aclellsl ics of cry$18l1ille sllioo'l p OOiolroK8ICdevice s IS 1211)2(Pall I ) : 20 10 Pho!ovolIa 'c devices; Pal l I Measurem enl o f pholovo ll a lc c ur rent v olt ag e chaladenslol ::s (fir st revisO:mj 1 $ 12762 (Part 2) . 1993 Pho!owlla'C devices: Part 2 Req lJlreroe ll ts for refere nce 5O;a' cells IS 12762 {Part 3} . 1996 Pho!owlla'c ll e.nces;Part 3 Measul'f!lllelll prWlci~ 101 l en esbial pholovOIUIIC (PV) sola l oevrces w ll h re fe rence s pecl l al i"atIiallCe d... .a IS OC 00 1002 (All parts) lEe qua lity ...... "ssm9 nf sys1em for elecl ro 'l ;c co mpan enl, (I ECO) - R ul. s 01 Techn ll:ally -Equ...alenl TechlllCa1tvEquiv",,1enl

Ill eol ocal

- ' 0.

'ISlrlCOrev i8ed In 'OOll. "S'rree r..,..d on 'seA i" Ih'OO Pi ttl .

IS/IEC

61829:1995

Indian Standard CRYSTALLINE SILICON PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) ARRAY -- ON-SITE MEASUREMENT OF l-V CHARACTERISTICS
1 Scope and object
This International Standard describes procedures for on-site measurement of crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) array characteristics and for extrapolating these data to Standard Test Conditions (STC) or other selected temperatures and irradiance values.

Measurements of PV array l-V characteristics under actual on-site conditions and their extrapolation to Acceptance Test Conditions (ATC) can provide (see annex A and QC 001002): data on power rating; verification of installed array power performance relative to design specifications; and

detection of possible differences between on-site module characteristics laboratory or factory measurements;

detection of possible performance degradation of modules and arrays with respect to on-site initial data. For a particular module on-site measurements extrapolated to Standard Test Conditions (STC) can be directly compared with results previously obtained in laboratory or factory for that module, provided that in both measurements the reference devices have the same spectral and spatial response as described in the relevant IEC 904.

Data from on-site array measurements contain diode, cable and mismatch losses. Therefore, they are not directly comparable to the sum of the respective module data.

If a PV array is formed with sub-arrays of different tilt, orientation, technology or electrical configuration, the procedure described here will be applied to each unique PV sub-array.

2

Normative references

The following normative documents contain provisions which, through reference in this text, constitute provisions of this International Standard. At the time of publication, the editions indicated were valid. All normative documents are subject to revision, and parties to agreements based on this International Standard are encouraged to investigate the possibility of applying the most recent editions of the normative documents indicated below. Members of IEC and ISO maintain registers of currently valid International Standards. IEC 891: 1987, Procedures for temperature and irradiance corrections to measured characteristics of crystalline silicon photovoltaic devices Amendment 1 (1992)
1

l-V

ISJlEC 61829; 1995
IEC 904-1 : 1987 . Photovol/aie devices current-voltage charactaristles
Pan

t : Measurements of photovottstc

IEC 904-2 : 1989. Ph%val/alc devices - Pan 2: Raquirements for reference solar cells

IEC 904-3 : 1989. Photovoltaic devicas - Pan 3: measurements principles for tarrastrial photovoltaic (PV) solar devices with reference spectral iuad iaoce data

IEC 904-6 : 1994. Ph%val/alc devices - Pan 6: Requirements for refrence solar modules

ac

001002: 1986. Rulas of Procedure of the IEC Ouality Assassman/ System for Electronic componem» (IECQ) Amendment 1 (1992)
MeBsurement procedures (methods A and B)

3

Two acceptable on-site measurement procedures are presented here. 80th methods use
the procedures given In IEC 891 for temperature and irradlance corrections to measured I-V characteristics: - method A determines ellectlve array temperature measurements ; - method 8 derives levels. junction temperature from direct

trom data of sub-array V oc recorded at dltterent Irradlance

4
4. t

Equipment

Equipmant common to me/hods A and B:
-

iec 904-2

a reference PV device that has been selected and calibrated in accordance with or IEC 904-6 ;

-. a suitable means to check that the reference device and the modules are coplanar withiri 2' accuracy: voltage and current measurement Instrumentation In conformity with IEC 904·1 : - a variable load fllted to the considered power range : for low power (less than 1 kW to 2 kW) rheostats or electronic toads may be suitable : for higher power. capacitive loads are preferred : - for a continuous tracing of the I-V curve: a tracing lable or a memory scope or any other similar equipment ; two radiometers to check the uniformity of the In·plane radiance.

4.2

Additional equlpmanf needed for method A:
1

- a device, with an accuracy 01beller than lemperature:

·c lor measuring module back sur1ace

- a commutation system which allows measuring the open-circuit voltage as well as the short-circuit current of the relerence PV devlees.

2

I$nEe 61829: 1995
4.3 Additional equipment needed for method B:

-

a device for measuring ambient air temperature with an accuracy of

:I:

1 'C.

5

Procedure a) This procedure assumes clean module surfaces . If soiled surface conditions exist, appropriate action such as cleaning (if praclical) andlor reporting the condit ions shall be taken . b) Verity that the environmental conditions meet the requirements ollEC 904-1, except for the following : vollage and current should be measured within 1 %;

- tOI measurements to be ext rapolated to STC, the total in-plane irradlance must be at least 700 W . m- 2 and the incident sun beam must be within a cane 01 45' angUlar aperture around the module normal. .. c) Using a suitable radiometer, check the un~ormity of the tn-piane irradlance over the area to be tested and select a module on which the irradiance is typical . d) The array to be measured must be disconnected from any load such as battery and/or power condit ioning equipment ej Determine the junction temperature and the I-V charactelistics by either method A or method B as descr ibed in 5.1 or 5.2.
5.1 MethodA

a) Measure the temperature at the centre of the back surface at the selected central module(s) . The choice of these selected modules wlll be based on the principles and examples indicated in l igure 1. bl caieutate the mean temperature TSA Irom all selected modules in the array and the dillerence dT between this value and the temperature 01 the central selected module
TSt.l :

dT gTSA -TSt.l
C) Measure the Vee of the reference PV device and determine lts junction temperature lJRO ' by:

TJ RO ~ (Voe - k · Voe . sTe)/~ + 25 ' C

where

~
I< I< I< I<

is the voltage temperature coefficient of the referenced PV device. V . 'C-

1

;

is a coellicient taking into account the irradiant deviation between measurement condltlons and 1 000 W . m- 2; 1,000 for 1 000 W . m- 2 irradiance.·
g

~ 0,996 lor 900 W . m- 2 irradiance ,
- 0 ,989 lor 800 W . m- lrradlance,
g

2

k

0,983 lor 700 W . m- 2 irradiance.

3

IS/I E C 6 1 8 2 9 : 1 9 9 5 5.2 Method B

a) During the day make repeated VOC array measurements, in particular at low irradiance levels (100 W-2 m to 300 W m - 2 ) where no l-V scans can be performed, together with readings of ambient temperature TA and of irradiance G (as determined from the short-circuit current of the reference device, using its calibration curve). Determine the mean value (V) and standard error of the corresponding extrapolated VOC STC values for each array. The extrapolated VOC STC values are computed using the following formula:

where is the number of cells in series in the array; is the product of the thermal voltage (about 25 mV/cell) and the non-ideality factor (about 1,5, so that A is about 38 mV/cell>; is the cell voltage temperature coefficient (ca 2,2 mV/K/cell); = x dTJ / dG (where 6TJ/ d G is about 0,03 K/W m-2 for free-standing arrays, corresponding to NOCT of 45 °C.) In cases of special mountings, i.e. roof mounting, the coefficient B shall be determined by regression analysis (least square fit) of the VOC data. If necessary, regression analysis can be used to improve the accuracy of the other coefficients. b) If slow (manual) load scanning is used, record VOC immediately prior to the l-V scan. c) Scan the l-V curve by varying the load such that there will be a sufficient number of points to define a smooth l-V characteristic. If slow (manual) load scanning is used (e.g. using a rheostat as load), the current output from the reference device must be determined simultaneously with each l-V point to obtain the irradiance G corresponding to that point. The total variation in irradiance over the whole scan should be less than 10 %. If not, the measurement should be repeated from 5.2 b). If a fast load scanning device such as a capacitor load (total scan time less than 0,1 s) is used, it is sufficient to record the current of the reference device at the start of the scan.

d) If slow (manual) scanning is used, compare the VOC obtained at the end of the l-V scan with that measured in 5.2 b). e) If these values differ by more than 2 %. repeat the measurement from there. f) Calculate the corrected junction temperature of the array during the measurement as:

g) Extrapolate the measured l-V data to the required Acceptance Test Conditions by the method described in IEC 891. The R s value will either be given by the supplier or determined by measurement as in IEC 891.

6

Accuracy

All techniques which improve accuracy should be used. At the present time it is difficult to assure an overall accuracy for the termination of the extrapolated power to better than ± 5 %.

5

IS/I E C 6 1 8 2 9 : 1 9 9 5

Figure 1b) Modules extremes Extreme modules Modules centraux Central modules

Figure 1c)

Figure 1 - Exemples de modules extremes et centraux Examples of extreme and of central modules

6

IS/I E C 6 1 8 2 9 : 1 9 9 5

Annex A
(informative)
Glossary

Acceptance test conditions (ATC):
Reference values of ambient temperature, in-plane irradiance and spectral distribution, specified for power rating of PV arrays.

Standard test conditions (STC):
Reference values of module temperature, in-plane irradiance and spectral distribution used for indoor (simulator) measurements: module temperature: 25 °C; in-plane irradiance: 1 000 W · m - 2 ; spectral distribution: AM 1,5 (global); see IEC 904-3.

Reference device:
A reference device is a specially calibrated solar cell, multi-cell package or module which is used to measure irradiance. For measurements in natural sunlight, when the direct solar beam is not at or near normal incidence, it is recommended to use a reference module of the same type and size as those being tested or a multi-cell package consisting of a calibrated cell surrounded by other cells (dummy or real) in such a way that frame, encapsulation system, shape, size and spacing are the same as in the modules being tested.

(Continuedfrom second

cover)

The technical committee has reviewed the provision of the following International Standard referred in this adopted standard and has decided that it is acceptable for use in conjunction with this standard: Interna tional Standa rd IEC 60904-6 :1994 Title Photovoltaic devices -- Part 6: Requirements for reference solar modules

Only the English language text of the International Standard has been retained while adopting it in this Indian Standard, and as such the page numbers given here are not the same as in the IEC Standard. For the purpose of deciding whether a particular requirement of this standard is complied with, the final value, observed or calculated, expressing the result of a test, shall be rounded off in accordance with IS 2 :1960 'Rules for rounding off.numerical values {revised)'. The number of significant places retained in the rounded off value should be same as that of the specified value in this standard.

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